Track 8

Track 8.

Answer 1.

For a number of reasons.

Often, I think, because they are exhausted; capital cities in particular can be very demanding places to live, the noise, the traffic, the cost of living­ and people often grow tired of all that.

It’s just too over the top for some.

They start to feel drawn to the peace and quiet that rural life might be able to give them.

Generally speaking, though, I do think that it’s the case that younger people, people like me, are more drawn to that vibrant, city lifestyle.

As soon as you get older and have a family, you start thinking it’s time to move.

Answer 2.

Well, one possibility that I can foresee is that buildings will keep getting taller and taller.

This has been going on for some time, all over the world, and so many people now are moving to the city.

Unless this changes, we’re going to need more and more homes for everyone.

We might even see a 500-story skyscraper one day.

That might sound ridiculous now, but cities are likely to keep expanding at the rate they are currently, so there will be no other option that I can think of.

Answer 3.

Oh, I think that would be a bit of a disaster, to be honest.

Insisting that everyone uses public transport could create more problems than currently exist.

Fine, if you were just visiting the city, it probably wouldn’t bother you too much, but if you were a resident there, then again, the streets would be safer for pedestrians.

And it might do something about the levels of pollution.

I do think it is bound to happen, to be honest.

So, as long as people are happy to use buses and bikes instead of their cars, life will continue as normal.

Answer 4.

I can understand why people want a huge, old-fashioned house.

In a similar way to living in the middle of the bright lights of the big city, there’s something quite romantic about it.

Having said that, I do think it depends on your age.

Most people of my age, for example, prefer the idea of coming home to a smart, modern apartment every day, high up in the sky, overlooking the city, well, it just sounds amazing.

Providing I make enough money, I’ll definitely be on a top floor myself one day.

Answer 5.

Well, in the old days, your whole life was in one place.

You married someone from the same town, you had a job in the same village, and your family stayed around you.

In some places, life is still like that, people only need to go next door or downstairs to see their parents, for example, but after people were given the opportunity to move around from one town to another, on trains or even aeroplanes, the traditional family unit started to change, I think, and people are now much more spread out.

Not just nationally, but internationally.

By the time I’m a grandparent, I think it will be even more different.